German researchers publish full Neanderthal genome

Researchers in Germany have completed the first high-quality sequencing of a Neanderthal genome.

The figure shows a tree relating this genome to the genomes of Neandertals from Croatia, from Germany and from the Caucasus as well as the Denisovan genome recovered from a finger bone excavated at Deniosva Cave. It shows that this individual is closely related to these other Neandertals. Thus, both Neandertals and Denisovans have inhabited this cave in southern Siberia, presumably at different times [Credit: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig]

The scientific data gleaned from remains of a Neanderthal toe bone found in a Siberian cave are being made freely available online.